Harry Potter and Dr Granger's Observation
by EdStargazer
Summary: On the Train platform after 4th year, Hermione kisses Harry on the lips instead of the cheek attracting the attention of her father to Harry Potter. He is not impressed.


The turning point in Harry Potter' life began when Hermione kissed Harry on the mouth instead of the cheek when the teens returned from Hogwarts in June of 1995. Doctors Mr. and Mrs. Granger noticed the shabbily dressed young man with unkempt hair their princess had bussed and frowned. That boy was not up to standard. The appearance of Vernon Dursley immediately changed their opinion.

"Boy, get a move on!" the morbidly obese man thundered.

Richard Granger was not the most imposing of men but he held himself well at all time. He was British after all. He took the time to always notice the small things that others tended to overlook. He did see the boy's face light up when his princess had put a small peck on his lips. It had however immediately dimmed when the obese man had bellowed apparently to this Harry Potter he had met in passing once before. That the boy was mentioned favorably in so many of Hermione's letters made him a person of interest to the dentist.

Dr. Granger looked at the boy with a practiced eye. He took his profession seriously and one aspect of his role was to watch for abuse in his patient. Dentists are often called in to repair some of the most obvious signs of physical abuse with missing and broken teeth. The imposing bulk of a man that glared at the boy was seen as a bully at once to his eye. The teen however had changed noticeably from just a minute prior. His posture was now slightly stooped and his face fixed in a neutral sullen expression that most passer-bys would not pay a second glance at. If he had not seen the teen a minute prior even he would have passed it over as just another teenager out with a relative.

'The boy is guarding himself' Richard thought as his lips thinned in masked anger. 'He donned a well practiced façade in an instant for people to see and only one used to seeing anything different would see past it.'

The pieces fit too well and too easily for Dr. Granger. 'The boy is being abused; for many years if his is that accomplished at hiding it.'

* * *

The entire ride home Hermione extolled her parents about her year at the school and what she had learned, the Tri-wizard Tournament and seeing students from the other schools. Helen chatted happily with Hermione during the ride but noticed Richard's silence. Normally, he was involved in the conversation but he instead seemed lost in his own thoughts. When Helen queried, all he did was shake his head in his normal way of letting her know it would be discussed later.

The Granger family arrived at their modest home in good time and headed inside. Before Hermione could head upstairs to unpack, Richard stopped her.

"Hermione dear, could you come into the parlour first. There is something I need to ask you," Richard said in a parental tone. Confused, Hermione obeyed and Helen looked puzzled as well. Richard had his 'professional' face on. The ladies sat on the couch while Richard paced back and forth for a moment collecting his thoughts.

"Hermione, I am bothered by something I noticed. The boy you kissed at the station; that was Harry Potter correct?" he asked.

Hermione nodded and replied, "Yes Dad."

Dr. Granger nodded at the confirmation. "I am not worried about the kiss mind you, but something else bothered me. Does he talk about his home life?"

Hermione was taken aback by the direct question but Helen picked up that something else was wrong at once.

"Well, Harry doesn't like it there," Hermione admitted after about 10 seconds. "In fact he always asked to stay at Hogwarts or somewhere else rather than go back there."

Richard nodded as another piece fell into place. "Does he ever speak kindly of his home life at all?" he pressed.

"No Dad," Hermione answered at once.

"Would you consider Harry to be a good person? Your letters always paint him as kind, charitable and sometimes a bit rash in his actions but is there nothing malicious about him? I know you get into more trouble there than you tell us about. The nurse lets us know whenever you are in the hospital wing even if the Headmaster doesn't. Professional courtesy and all."

Hermione gaped at her father once more. She thought she had been so clever at editing events to keep them from finding out things. After another brief pause she replied.

"Oh no, Dad! He is if nothing else too kind. He seems to think everything is his responsibility or his fault if something bad happens. We get into some … antics at school being out of bounds sometimes or dealing with Malfoy but he is never mean or malicious," Hermione replied meekly still trying to downplay things.

This generated another nod from Dr. Granger. "I know this is an even stranger question to be asking my 15 almost 16 year old daughter but what are your feelings toward this boy?"

Both Helen and Hermione gaped at the direct question but he kept his look stern and focused.

Hermione tried and failed a few times to reply but her own head was racing faster than her mouth could follow. How _did_ she feel about Harry? Slowly she tried to put her thoughts into words.

"Well, he is my best friend. I do like him a bit but never really tried to think in terms of feelings towards him one way or another. I mean he is famous on the other side and he could be with anyone he wants. All the girls there seem to fancy him but he doesn't need another hanger on, so I try to just be the friend he needs," she said weakly not convincing anyone present of what her heart was trying to say.

Helen hugged her daughter. Matters of the heart were never easy to deal with under pressure.

Richard hid his smile at his daughter because he needed to make a decision. He thought it best to just come out and say it.

"Hermione, Harry is being abused," he stated. He raised his hand to stifle any protest from Hermione before she could start. "I know what I am talking about. I could see it clearly on him and in his actions at the station and having seen his uncle. The man is a tyro, a bully. That much is clear in just a minute of seeing him. With you saying Harry does not wish to return there added in that means the system is failing somehow."

"The Headmaster says he has to go back there for his protection after Harry practically begs not to return," Hermione tried to counter in a weak voice.

"So he in an accessory to abuse then," Richard concluded immediately. "He knows what is happening to the boy and allows it to continue. That fits in to what we have learned from talking with others stuck in this mess."

"Others? What others? Stuck how?" Hermione asked in a confused voice.

"There are some in the wizard side of the line that want us to know what is happening over there. There is a small network of normal parents of 'muggleborns' as well. We keep in touch via the telephone and Royal Mail. Just so you know, we intend to pull you out of there after your OWL exams and emigrate to Australia. We already have contact information for their school. You are contractually obligated through those tests at Hogwarts but past that, it is our decision. Which leads to another decision it seems."

Hermione had started tearing when her father mentioned leaving Hogwarts after OWLs but this last statement made her look questioning once more.

"I cannot in good conscience leave a child in an abusive household. No matter what I will report this to the courts through a solicitor. If he means something to you, I will follow up on it and press things harder possibly getting others involved. From what you have said already, your Headmaster will not let this go quietly so we need to be handling this entirely on our side until it is a fait-accompli."

"One other reason for us doing this is due to that man, Hermione. In spite of his outward appearance and public persona, he is not a nice man. He is not seen well by many families on our side. Too many people have simply vanished under his watch to consider him as being looking out for our interest. The group has a list of nearly 100 non-magical families who had magical children under Hogwarts age that have simply vanished or died under unexplained circumstances in the past decade. Those criminals from the last magical civil war that were simply released under his watch are believed to be behind it. He let those 'Death Eaters' go free without trial claiming they were ensorcelled. He made it look like someone else allowed it but he was the head of the justice system as Chief Wizard and allowed it without comment; so the final decision and blame falls to him. All the actions by those people he freed fall on him as well because if he did his job they would not be free."

Hermione could not argue that point. She thought of all the times in school, the Slytherins had gotten away with things because the Headmaster allowed it. By the same token the Gryffindors sometimes did as well.

"So, back on point; your friend Harry. Should we pay extra interest in his well being or should we simply report it and trust in the Queen's courts?" Richard asked his daughter.

Hermione worried her lip as she thought for a few moments. The fact that the Headmaster may not be entirely trustworthy worried her. Every indicator she got from the old man screamed trust him but her father; the one person she trusted above all others; was saying differently about Harry and the Headmaster.

That was the core of it all. It was for Harry. For Harry, she had lit a professor's robes afire. For Harry, she had been petrified. For Harry, she had overcome her fear of heights and climbed on that hippogriff. For Harry, she had taken his word for no other reason about entering the Tournament. There was no other choice here. For Harry, she would always take his side.

"Yes, Dad" Hermione answered just above a whisper.

* * *

Dr. Richard Granger was not imposing but as a dentist in the British Dental Association, he knew people. He knew how to handle bureaucracy to get paid. He knew associates who knew other people. That was the lynchpin of cutting through the System. It only took his probes a matter of hours to find that Harry James Potter of Little Whinging barely existed. With a school friend who was a solicitor aiding him, he got records and access to documents quickly.

It appeared that Harry James Potter had his birth registered and fingerprinted two days after a home delivery. Richard chuckled at that cover up as Hermione said he had been registered at St. Mungo's and Hogwarts minutes after his birth. Lily Potter must have insisted on her son being acknowledged on both sides of the line so her parents could brag about their new grandsons to all parties as Dudley had been born a bit more than a month before Harry.

Past the birth register, a new born physical to get an Inland Revenue and a Health Services number and some spotty school records at Little Whinging Primary; Harry Potter was a near non entity in the System. No further medical records, no Child Services records, and no Inland Revenue records existed after 1981 with his name associated with them. It seems that after his parents' deaths baby Harry vanished. Richard was almost beside himself that the System had failed Harry so badly. He knew magic had played a great deal with the lack of records but he also knew that would make things much easier in the final plan.

Magic was also the reason he had to wait. The news from the Wizards was not good. Fudge was degrading both Harry and Dumbledore and the old man had been sacked from his positions in the government. With Harry at Privet Dr., the Headmaster's eye would be focused on him without major distractions. It grated on him but he took the time to prepare his documentation and for the next years move.

* * *

When Hermione returned to Hogwarts for her 5th year, the Plan began in earnest. Armed with some 'muggled' school medical records from Poppy and his solicitor knowing the right places to start, Dr. Granger began his quest. A simple inquiry through the Child Services department regarding a youth who showed signs of abuse got things rolling. The System did not like discrepancies or handle them well so the lack of information on the patient was referred to another department, then another. It took over a month from his initial notice before Dr. Granger was talked to by a Child Services representative.

"Yes, the boy goes to school with my daughter. This is him right here in this picture. My daughter tells me his parents died when he was a mere baby and he lives with his mother's sister and her husband in Little Whinging, Vernon and Petunia Dursley. His school nurse forwarded his school medical record against the wishes of the school Headmaster as she did not wish to lose her own License in such a blatant cover up of abuse."

The new information led a representative to decide to pay a visit to the Dursley household. But the process hit a snag at this point. The visit was not conducted as scheduled and definitely not recorded. The inspector would go out and come back after doing something else to find the file and reminder to make the visit to the Dursley household. After a week of this, the inspector knew something was wrong as his notes said he was going out of the office to make the visit each day for a week but he never seemed to do so.

This case was being pushed top down so the inspector knew he had to be able to show something. Knowing that his performance review would suffer from a non visit, he mentioned the issue to a coworker from the area.

"Oh, the Dursleys. Strange lot that one. Freakish people if I must say. The man and his boy are hugely obese and the wife a gossip monger. The neighbors say the nephew seems to be the only normal one of the lot but he is never around anymore. Word is that some boarding school his parents enrolled him in keeps him away most of the year. None of them believe the tripe at some place named St. Brutus Mrs. Dursley spouts. Every so often we get a neighbor report odd occurrences but nothing ever comes of it. Not my department to look into it. All I can add on Dursley is that the man is Teflon. Nothing ever seems to stick to him when he is investigated. Nothing ever comes of it."

The inspector was growing frustrated at this problem. But the System had a solution he could follow for when something like this happened. He wrote up his notes and sent the information he had back to his superiors using the tag for 'strange occurrences' that would route it to the proper department.

* * *

Early in December, the paperwork made its way to a department in the Home Office that dealt with 'strange occurrences'. Reginald Smythe was not happy to see this file land on his desk. The letter attached to the file made him even less happy. After several hours looking over the reports within he frowned at what it contained. This was unacceptable. He knew he had to pay a visit to Little Whinging along with an associate then make a visit to the dentist.

The following morning, Smythe and his associate, a Mr. Joseph Thatcher arrived on Privet Dr in Little Whinging. Smythe looked at the house and was not impressed. However, his associate looked then immediately turned and climbed back into the car ready to leave. Smythe nodded briefly then returned to the vehicle himself.

"We done here Joe?" Reginald asked his associate.

With a slightly confused look, Joe replied "I think so."

Reginald nodded and pulled out a stick and flicked it in Joe's direction causing the confused look to disappear.

"A mild confundus with a not my business ward that affects non-magicals, likely linked to intent for asking about Harry Potter's well being," Reginald stated. "Something that complex makes one question what the person who put it there is trying to prevent … or hide."

Joe looked better now and thanked Reginald, "Seems it works on squibs as well, Reg. Thanks."

"Time to visit that dentist, Joe," Reginald said in a firm tone.

Late that afternoon the pair drove up to the dental clinic of Dr & Dr Granger. They only paused to smarten up their jackets before entering. The receptionist greeted them and was surprised when the pair pulled out government identifications.

"We need to speak to Dr. Richard Granger on a serious matter he reported to us. He is not in trouble but we need to speak with him at once," Reginald spoke in official tones that most people responded to quickly.

Shortly, the pair was shown into a small office and were greeted by Richard and Helen Granger.

"Good afternoon," Richard said in a friendly tone. "What can I help you gentleman with today?"

"Doctors, I am Mr. Smythe, this is Mr. Thatcher. We are investigating reports of abuse on one Harry James Potter."

"Splendid, I was wondering how that was going. It has been months since our original report via our solicitor and we had not heard anything recently," Helen answered.

"Well, there are issues surrounding the case. I notice you are some distance from his listed address and I would like to know why you filed this case." Reginald asked.

"Harry attends an exclusive school in Scotland along with our daughter, Hermione. They are the best of friends but some of her letters had some information that seemed off. After meeting his uncle this past summer, it was apparent to a trained eye what was happening to the lad," Richard stated firmly.

Reginald nodded slowly. "I want to remind you that I work for Her Majesty's government attached to the Home Office." He reached into his breast pocket. "I wish no one here any harm," he said as he pulled out a wand Richard had first assumed was a pen. He placed the wand on the desk, point toward himself. "Reginald Smythe, Ravenclaw Class of '81. My associate is what is referred to as a squib. Strange that magicals use a non magical term for a failed explosive to refer to people born of magical parents but lacking magic."

Richard was shocked but recovered well. "Yes, yes it is," he said after a pause.

"Now that the official introductions are complete, I can get to the center of our business, Dr. Granger," Reginald stated. "Harry Potter is the focal point of a lot of attention in the magical portion of Her Majesty's realm but on this side of the divide, he barely exists past a few records his mother established after his birth. He has no legal guardian, he is not claimed on any tax records and due to a magical ward on Privet Dr. no one from this side can contact the Dursleys at home to correct this lack."

"My own investigations and the health records you provided give adequate cause for a judge who knows about both sides to make a binding ruling regarding Mr. Potter's guardianship. My superiors decided that we feel Albus Dumbledore has too much negative influence in his dealings regarding Mr. Potter and it would be in Mr. Potter's best interest to remove him from that influence. In your report you mentioned you would be willing to foster Mr. Potter if no suitable guardian could be found. Would this still be correct?"

Richard looked at Helen who nodded at him. "Yes, yes it would still be correct. There is a point that we plan to emigrate to Australia with our daughter once her current school year is completed. I am not sure if a guardianship would be allowed in that circumstance."

Reginald nodded thinking. "As it is another Commonwealth country it should not be an issue, but that is for a judge to decide. The removal of Mr. Potter from an abusive home is paramount and a far removed location would prevent the enabler of that abuse from doing much about it."

* * *

Events in the mundane world take time and it was early February before a judge who could rule on the case heard it. Due to a lack of legal guardianship and the offer of a suitable couple who also knew the boy in question, it was handled quite easily. The judge decided that taking physical custody of Harry could wait until he returned from school. That would allow the case against Vernon Dursley to continue to proceed quietly until they had more than enough evidence to have Inland Revenue audit him and succeed.

The court filed the documents and provided copies to the magical world upon filing. The clerk in the Ministry office simply stamped them as received and the papers were filed without the man even looking at them. If he had, he would have seen that the legal guardianship for Harry Potter changed from Sirius Black, (assigned to Albus Dumbledore by the Wizengamot), to Richard and Helen Granger, squibs.

One week after finalizing the custody with the courts, Richard and Helen drove to downtown London and walked up to a dingy bar that most people ignored. Stepping into the alley behind it both donned simple cloaks in an old fashioned style and closed with broaches instead of snaps or zippers.

After gaining entry into Diagon Alley, the couple proceeded to Gringotts bank and requested a meeting with a Potter account manager. Once in conference with Coppertooth, the Potter account manager, they presented the proper documentation regarding Harry and their guardianship. An evil smile appeared on Coppertooth's face. He knew the decrees in the Potter will were not being followed. He penned the document for James Potter after all. But it was denied an official reading by Albus Dumbledore with the approval of the Wizengamot. He knew that at last they could now stop that thief from hiding behind legal means to conduct his plots against the Potter funds. Dumbledore interrupted the proper flow of the gold and that was a crime to the goblins.

After all, the Gold must Flow.

Richard knew banking and finance well enough and agreed with Coppertooth in that regard. He explained his plans for the future in regard to the Potter heir and his own place in it. Coppertooth approved as it restored some of the proper Flow. The wizarding public had a love / hate relationship with Potter but in financial terms he was a cash cow.

His name had been licensed out in dozens of ways by Dumbledore that brought gold his way but none of it profited the goblin race. If the royalties had been deposited into accounts, there would be a trail of it that could be followed. Instead, the royalties simply were sent to his trust vault in cash and removed annually by Dumbledore in his aegis at Potter's guardian and financial overseer. The amount was never specifically known or recorded except to the goblins who were aware of how much was not available for their use. The contents of a Vault which was essentially a large safe deposit box simply lay there static, unused and unprofitable.

The new arrangement would be that all monies received would now be deposited in interest bearing accounts which the goblins could profit from as bankers had for centuries. Investments willed to Potter would be added to his portfolio rather than sold off for gold as they had under Dumbledore. Physical gifts to Potter would be evaluated and donated to worthy charities or sold at market and the proceeds deposited rather than being forwarded to Dumbledore.

Best of all, the access to the funds would be blocked unless both Potter and his guardian were present or Potter reached his majority. As by magic, Sirius Black was the true and legal guardian prior to the judgment, they did not have to inform Albus Dumbledore of the changes which pleased Coppertooth to no end.

The only other activity from Vault #687 was monthly support withdrawals by Petunia Dursley. This enraged Richard as Hermione had mentioned and he had seen for himself the poor clothing Harry had been forced to wear. The goblins could not comment on that issue of prevent it as they were indeed following their mandate by allowing the money to be removed. They could not enforce their laws but they insured the vault could not be raided for more than the monthly support allowed.

After visiting Coppertooth, both Grangers took the time to have their Squib status confirmed and inquired after any dormant items they might be party to. Coppertooth checked and was again pleased that a minor vault and fee maintenance account existed under the Granger name from a number of generations back which Mr. Granger was heir to as sole survivor.

After a productive morning, the Grangers took their now official 'Squib' status to the Ministry offices to register intent to emigrate to Australia with 'all magical and non magical minors currently under their care'. The vagueness was entirely legal but allowed the bigot to assume they had at least one squib child. He happily endorsed the document glad there would be fewer squibs polluting his air. With Ministry approval of the move, it was one more arrow in their quiver should Dumbledore make a fuss.

* * *

Plans proceeded in a quiet fashion as May turned into June. The Grangers arranged for a buyer on their practice to a junior dentist they knew. Helen stated she would trust her own teeth to the younger man and that was good enough for Richard. Help from Mr. Smythe got them situated with regard to the Australian government on both sides and all that remained was to close on the house and physically move in early July as the last month counted down. So far all was going to plan.

But plans have a way of going awry.

Days before the end of the school year, a letter arrived from Hermione. It was positively frantic in both tone and contained more misspellings than Hermione had allowed in all of her letters to date. Harry had been receiving visions and took one as true. He had gone to the Ministry days before and it led to the death of his godfather Sirius Black. Hermione tried to put off an injury of her own as 'minor' but another letter from Poppy belied that claim.

Richard called Mr. Smythe and messaged Coppertooth that things would be happening quickly on the return of the children from Hogwarts. They would leave the country at once after the children were picked up.

The reply to Hermione's letter is simple. They expressed concern for her well being and reminded her that she would be able to relax and recuperate while on vacation. They planned on a visit to see Uncle Hannibal who lived in Hollywood USA.

* * *

In Hogwarts, Hermione was in a foul mood. Harry was nearly broken and right now she was in the common room after lights out. Harry had another nightmare about his godfather and she was holding him as he drifted back into a troubled sleep. He would not release any of his pain. He retreated into himself and donned a blank face to all that most ignored.

Once more the offer to take Harry in had been made by multiple parties but the Headmaster had rebuffed them all. 'Harry is safest with his family' the old man repeated like a mantra. He even had the gall to forbid contact with Harry for the coming summer once again. Hermione harrumphed at that.

She knew what was coming and nothing could stop it. In one respect, she was glad Harry would finally be out from under those Dursleys but she knew her schooling plans were gone forever. She would not be Head Girl at Hogwarts. The message about 'Uncle Hannibal' meant that the plans of her parents had come together favorably and they would be in Australia soon with Harry. She had hated not being able to tell him anything but if he had known he would have acted differently.

The Headmaster could not be allowed to know until after they were gone.

Hermione had gone back and forth on this issue since her parents first told her of the idea. Harry was her best and sometimes only friend at Hogwarts. Keeping secrets from him was almost painful for the bright witch. But with Umbridge torturing Harry's body on a near daily basis and Snape torturing his mind almost as frequently, she could not afford to have Harry be aware of the brighter future that waited just a few weeks away. They would find out and almost at once Dumbledore would as well.

At one time she had admired the old wizard. She had seen him as the figure he portrayed to the public. But under the bright surface lay an ugly truth. Dumbledore was too focused on his 'Greater Good' to see the damage he was causing to society, to Britain, and to Harry. The man only saw an idealized vision of what used to be but never truly had been a century ago. He either could not or would not see the evil that lurked in the hearts of the rich and powerful pureblood elite.

Dumbledore believed that people would change if simply forgiven. But he never taught the young to be responsible, only to abuse their power. Generations of purebloods had passed through Hogwarts under his teaching and most only took one lesson to heart. As purebloods, they had the right to rule and all others were lesser beings. They could act in the most heinous of ways as long as it was to those of 'lesser' blood. When their 'lessers' tried to stand up to purebloods, the' lesser' bloods were punished by Dumbledore for it.

'You must forgive them or they will never come back to the Light' was one thing that burned in her mind now. Even as a child she understood that there were certain acceptable and unacceptable behaviors in British society. With her blinders removed, she saw Hogwarts did not teach a single one of those. Rewards for good behavior and punishments for unacceptable behavior was how things had been for centuries in the mundane world. Power and privilege for a few were the only things taught to the students at Hogwarts, by the other students. It was close to the 'Lord of the Flies' in a real situation. The professors tended to stand idly by and do nothing to stop things.

That was the biggest flaw in all of this. The entire system was broken and the people in charge had no desire to fix things. The one man with the power to even begin doing so consciously _would not_ take action. Death Eaters fire killing curses at Auror and civilian alike while the Aurors would only do as they were taught and fire back stunners because Dumbledore told them to do so. The will to fight back had already been trained out of the common people. She believed that a few squads of simple soldiers could end this entire Death Eater problem rather quickly.

Dozens had stood and died following and believing Dumbledore's flawed teachings. Entire families wiped out never finding out that they were sacrifices and the fertilizer of Dumbledore's 'Greater Good'. Well, this witch was not going to let her Harry be the next body in the compost heap. The boy she lo … liked was getting out of this and she would be with him as long as he let her.

The Hogwarts Express would be leaving in the morning. It was time for the next act in this farce. She just hoped Harry could hold on for another day.

* * *

The late afternoon sun shone down on a clear day in London. A red steam engine would have stood out if anyone outside if a select few were even aware of it. The gathered families and friends of the students of Hogwarts were nervous with the acknowledged return of the most feared Dark Lord in centuries. Some were more nervous than others. Richard and Helen stood off to one side and gave the morbidly obese Vernon Dursley a wide berth. The dentist could count a half dozen health issues just from Vernon's physical appearance. The train running a few minutes late due to some issue or another had the voluminous man purple in the face. That there were several wizards and witches bracketing the florid man and issuing threats did not make things any easier.

Richard wished he could take Harry directly from the station but the plan needed to be followed. Mr. Smythe had arranged things with the other government departments to be waiting at Privet Dr. Once he got Harry away from those freaks Mr. Smythe would bring in the other agencies while protecting the agents from the wards until such time as they could be brought down.

The Granger family piled into their Range Rover and headed off in pursuit of Vernon Dursley's high priced sedan. It was easy to pick out once they closed as the driver's side was lower than the passenger side. For his part Vernon did not even notice as he railed at Harry for the train being late, the freaks getting on him and the current weather being not to his liking. Harry bore it all in silence as a protest would mean worse later.

Vernon had Harry drag his things into the house and was preparing to lock them in the cupboard under the stairs when a pounding came from the front door. His mood already strained after this bothersome day, Vernon rushed to open it to give the rude person there a piece of his mind. The door was practically pulled off the hinges as Vernon yanked it open only to see something he had not expected.

A specially chosen Police Inspector larger than Vernon waited with hand raised to bang on the door once more as it opened. The man stood over a foot taller than Vernon. He massed likely as much as Vernon but the inspector was all muscle and seemed to fill the doorway.

"Mr. Vernon Dursley, of 4 Privet Drive I presume?" the inspector asked in a flat, slightly intimidating voice.

Vernon nodded and croaked out a quiet "Yes, I am."

The inspector nodded. "Is Mrs. Petunia Dursley of 4 Privet Drive here as well? If so I need her to present herself."

Vernon called out "Pet, could you come to the front door?"

Petunia bustled up quickly having been peeking around the corner from the kitchen area.

"Are you Mrs. Petunia Dursley?" the inspector asked in the same flat tone.

"Yes, I am," Petunia replied in a tentative voice.

"Good," the inspector replied and held up then handed Petunia a legal writ. "I am serving you notice of a warrant to search these premises for one Harry James Potter and to remove him and all goods belonging to him or his parents from within these walls. It has been signed and authorized by the local magistrate at the request of his legal guardians."

Harry heard this and was puzzled but the paling faces of Vernon and Petunia told him a different story.

"I am entering the premises, please step aside Mr. Dursley," the inspector stated. Vernon stepped back as quickly as his bulk allowed as did Petunia. Several other police constables entered behind the large inspector.

The inspector stepped up to Harry. 'He is larger than Shacklebolt,' Harry thought.

"Mr. Harry James Potter?" the inspector asked.

"Yes," Harry croaked out.

The inspector dropped his cold demeanor and smiled at Harry. "Good, I am to inform you that you are safe from your kidnappers and to take yourself and your possessions from this place and be reunited with your legal guardians outside."

Confused, Harry pulled his trunk from under the stairs and exited the front door. Before he got halfway down the walk he was engulfed by a bushy haired girl in a tight hug.

"Hermione? What is going on?" he asked once he found his voice.

"A rescue," Hermione responded with a smile. "A rescue and a new life. I wish I could have told you before but it was vital the Headmaster knew nothing until it was a fait accompli."

Once Harry had exited the house, the inspector stepped up to Petunia once more. "I am aware of the machinations of Albus Dumbledore and it would be easiest for you if you cooperate fully. I suggest you voluntarily bring all items belonging to Mr. Potter to us at once, including any legal documents you have regarding him. The wards Dumbledore set here will no longer keep your actions toward Harry Potter a secret. It will not absolve you of your actions but it will aid in your defense if you answer any and all questions regarding Mr. Dumbledore and his illegal actions toward yourselves and Mr. Potter."

Petunia was recovering from her initial shock and hurried up the stairs to her bedroom. She returned in less than a minute with a small cedar box roughly the size of a shoebox and presented it to the inspector.

"Everything I have relating to … Harry is in here," she said barely stopping herself calling the boy a 'freak'.

The inspector looked at the box and gestured toward the door. "You may give it to him yourself."

Petunia paled further but obeyed the instructions. Harry noticed Petunia approaching and noted the fear on her face in the deepening twilight.

"This is everything else that could be considered yours here," she stated. She tried to back off as Harry took hold of the box but Harry was already opening it.

Within the box lay a pair of wands, several legal documents with 'Record of Birth' visible on the top page. On the papers sat a single Gringotts key. Harry looked hard at Petunia, hate in his eyes showing clearly.

"Explain this," he said in a tight voice.

Petunia cringed from the tone but the bulk of the inspector behind her prevented flight. "Each month Vernon would have me visit the … freak bank ... and get the money for you care in pounds. He took it and spent it on … other things," she finished lamely.

"How long?" Harry asked in a voice tinged with ice.

"From the first month you were in our house," Petunia admitted in fear.

"All this time," Harry muttered. He glared hard into Petunia's eyes. She could see her death in that glare but it backed away into rage instead. "All this time, you and that walrus have said I am a burden! That you got nothing to take care of me! But you were from the beginning!" Harry's voice grew louder with each sentence.

"ALL THIS TIME YOU MADE ME SLAVE FOR YOU AND WEAR YOUR SLOB SON'S CAST OFFS. YOU MISTREATED ME; YOU ABUSED ME AND YOU HAD THE TEMERITY TO CALL _ME_ A FREAK! YOU LIED TO EVERYONE ABOUT ME AND YOU WERE BEING _PAID_ FOR IT THE WHOLE TIME!"

Hermione hugged Harry tight as Harry's magic began to spark around him.

"Let's just go Harry, they cannot hurt you anymore," she urged as her voice calmed him slightly. She pulled him gently toward the Granger's Range Rover and prodded him into the back seat. Her own rage had her look back at Petunia as the woman had not moved a muscle. The girl glared and spat at the ground in front of Petunia. "May you receive everything you have earned for your action, Petunia Dursley. Should you ever see me again, pray to all things Holy and Vile that I do not see you." Hermione then climbed in the vehicle and closed the door.

As Richard started the engine and pulled out of Privet Drive and the crowd of neighbors that had heard everything, Harry spoke in a soft voice.

"He always called me a burden, said they got nothing from anyone for taking me in when they actually were. They took it and mistreated me anyway," he said on the edge of a breakdown.

"You're free now Harry," Hermione whispers in his ear."You can let it all go." Once the car moves past the neighbors, Harry begins to cry; softly at first then in deep body wracking sobs. Hermione pulled his head to her shoulder and wraps her arms around him, making comforting sounds as Harry wept

* * *

In Hogwarts, a number of magical devices Albus had repaired ground to a stop. Fawkes noticed the lack of movement and hopped to each item and pecked each once with his beak setting the items into motion once more. Fawkes could not stop the actions of his person but he could help the boy escape.

* * *

The Grangers stopped at the courthouse with Harry to sign some papers for the judge and the records clerk passes Harry his new British Passport. Hermione smiled at the picture on it. She had convince Harry to have a 'portrait' taken by Colin and sent the picture to her parents months before.

"We have three hours before we need to be at Heathrow. How about a quick stop for a few travel necessities for Harry? Your mum has a small bag already made up for you, Hermione," he finished. A quick visit to a store got Harry a change of clothes and underwear with a small gym bag to carry it in.

A man in a black Government Issue suit approached as the family entered the air terminal.

"Coppertooth send his regards, Mr. Granger. Your residence has been packed and shipped to your destination. I was asked to gain the last key and give you this envelope with the password, 'I love it when a plan comes together'"

Richard nodded and passed his car key to the man and took the envelope in return. The men shook hands and went their separate ways much to the teen's confusion. Richard opened the envelope to find 4 boarding passes on a British Airways flight to Australia.

Hermione looked at her father with a slight smirk. It was one of her father's guilty pleasures watching his James Bond movies on video. The whole meeting with the mysterious man smacked of that.

"Really dad, a coded password?" she asked.

Richard merely sniffed a bit and fixed his tie; saying nothing.

Harry was just confused by all of the happenings and had merely been going along until they were sitting at the terminal lounge. Now that he had recovered from his breakdown he knew this was not a normal situation. He was expecting Dumbledore to come swooping in at any moment and drag him back.

"What is going on, Hermione?" he finally asked his best friend.

"A rescue and more, Harry. My father noticed how your uncle treated you last year at the station. He looked into your situation and found a few things wrong. Your mum had gotten you into the muggle, um mundane side of things when you were born. When she died and Sirius jailed you had no legal guardian on either side. Dumbledore had simply dropped you off at your aunt and uncle's house but they never legally took that responsibility. Dumbledore never took it on the magical side either as that would have brought it out that Sirius had been imprisoned without trial. With the will of your parents sealed, as Chief Warlock Dumbledore became acting but not legal guardian as that right still resided with Sirius."

"My dad looked into things and learned those facts and applied for guardianship and had it granted to him. Now that we are out of school and taken our OWLs, we can attend a different school. My dad being guardian applied for and was granted emigration by the Ministry to Australia. We are leaving in quite a hurry though with the Ministry incident last week might get Dumbledore involved if he discovers it. His reach does not go past Europe so we should be safe there."

"My parents had to wait until after your Uncle picked you up at the station and out of view of the Order before getting your physical custody. It seems he had a number of government agencies lined up to deal with them. Child Services, Inland Revenue and a few others. The Dursleys will get what is coming to them. Dumbledore however will not get his yet. All we can do is get out of his range until you are an adult."

Harry nodded understanding what he was told. It still bothered him until another thought came dancing across his head. "Um, does this make me your brother now?" he asked in a worried tone.

"No," Hermione replied with a smirk. "It is only guardianship, not an adoption."

"Oh, good," Harry muttered.

Hermione picked up on the undertone of relief there but left it lie for now. Harry had enough upheavals for today.

The trip to Australia and settling into the new house went smoothly. A long series of shopping trips over several days occurred for a new wardrobe and furnishing his room followed. Days relaxing and getting used to the now wintertime took some doing but Harry seemed to be adjusting well for now.

* * *

Weeks passed in Britain. Dumbledore put down the daily copy of the Prophet and almost preened. The paper was referring to Harry as 'The Chosen One' and putting a good light on Dumbledore as well. He glanced at his monitoring devices as they spun, whirled or levitated as they should. He smiled that at least Harry was behaving at the Dursley house.

'Harry should be in the proper frame of mind by now," he thought. After all, he had forbidden contact with his friends once more so the boy would be hungry for the guidance that only he, Albus Dumbledore, could provide.

The only hitch so far that summer was when Albus tried to access the Black vaults only to find they had been closed to him. The old headquarters had similarly slipped his mind as they had abandoned it after Sirius' death unsure of the ownership of the run down building. The Potter vaults had always been closed to him but he planned to as always clean out the trust vault on Jul 29th knowing it would refill on Harry's birthday and he would make sure Harry was at Privet until after that. It was always a tidy sum and the windfall kept the Order running and Albus in lemon drops once he tucked away his cut.

The only hint of trouble so far was Mrs. Weasley mentioning Ms. Granger had not contacted Ron or Ginny and the house they lived in was unoccupied. Knowing that the Granger family normally took vacations together during the early summer months left him not really concerned over the fact but Ronald was upset as he wanted to get Hermione as his girlfriend this year.

'Sometime in early to mid August should be just about the right time to fetch young Harry,' Albus decided. 'I'll get his aid in recruiting Horace and then tuck the boy away with the Weasley family until school starts.'

* * *

Down in Australia, roughly two weeks after arriving, Harry suffered terrible nightmares on three consecutive nights. The Grangers spoke with Harry about them and convinced him to see a counselor. The Australian magical ministry provided them with a list of professionals who knew of magic that could aid the young man. With Hermione holding his hand, he begins to talk about his time at Privet and Hogwarts. Baring his pain took days. All involved spent time reminding him he is not at fault and that he was worth all the time spent helping him.

After a few weeks, he could sleep most nights without nightmares and he looked better each day physically and emotionally.

The mild winter weather where they were staying [mild compared to Scotland] left Harry noticing quite a lot about Hermione's shape and how well she filled out her jeans and blouses as opposed to shapeless robes of Hogwarts. Hermione noticed the looks and began to flirt with the wizard. she switched to pajama pants and t shirts for sleepwear rather than the heavy nightdress she wore at Hogwarts around him much to Harry's approval. The parents simply chuckled at the teen's awkward courtship.

A surprise happened then. Days before his birthday, a local shaman came to see Harry. The old Aborigine man looked weathered and wise in ways that Dumbledore could never achieve. He had been going walkabout when he sensed something amiss in the area and followed it to Harry. The man poked and prodded and the scar on his forehead with nary a word said. After several minutes of this, he stopped and looked deep into Harry's eyes.

"We will fix it. I've got a friend in Jamaica who can fix this in a few minutes," the shaman said in a kind voice before turning to leave with no other explanation.

Harry found he trusted the man in spite of never speaking a word back to him.

The following day, the shaman walked into the Granger house with a man who looked like a stereotypical Jamaican seen on TV.

"Hello Grangers and Harry Potter," the Jamaican said in a loud sing song accent. "Pardon the intrusion but my buddy here says you got need of a voodoo man, so here I am. Who got possessed?"

The family looked at one another perplexed.

"Never mind, there's the booger," he said walking up to Harry and looking at Harry's scar. "O that booger is really wedged in there good, ain't he mon? Huh, looks like old Albus did a bad one here. He put a binding on your scar mon or your magic would have pushed the booger out years ago. For years, dat old mon been making things hard all over for people but this time it helps folks."

"Want me to take care of this ting for you mon?" the Jamaican asked to which Harry nodded.

"This is gonna sting a bit mon," the Jamaican said as he pulled out a white grease pencil and drew a bit on Harry's forhead around the scar. There was a flare of magic as the white vanished and left Harry light headed. Then the voodoo man pinched it and the scar burst open like a pus filled zit.

The black / grey pus that leaked out was wiped into a small jar and the scar pinched over and over until it bled freely. The man then pulled out a small white tube and handed it to Harry.

"Use this on that wound and keep it covered until the scab comes off on its own and the scar should be mostly gone," he said with a smile.

"Is it some special potion?" Harry asked looking at the tube.

The Jamaican man laughed and smiled a wide smile, "No mon, it's Neosporin."

"Now this stuff, it is bad juju," the Jamaican said holding up the small jar. "Old Tommy be fighting wit da Reaper mon for years and now he is gonna lose big time. Voodoo deals with Soul Magic and old Tommy messed his up. The Witch Queen is gonna reel him in and feed him to the Bones now. Thank you, Harry Potter." With that, both men left, having never even told the family their names.

A week later, news came from England of all the Death Eaters dying mysteriously. The Prophet called it 'prominent citizens' but all showed the same symptoms and died. One auror on duty who had seen one die said it was like seeing a Dementor suck out a soul except it left through the arm for no apparent reason until a Dark Mark was found on the dead man.

Harry was sent a gift basket from the Witch Queen and personal thank you note for his help. Harry cherished the thank you note more than the present as he rarely was ever thanked for anything in the past.

* * *

In Britain, Dumbledore was troubled by the deaths of 'so many people who could have been redeemed including young Malfoy' who apparently had just taken the Dark Mark. His trip to Gringotts two days before Harry's birthday to remove funds from the trust vault had been rebuffed by the goblins. They keep the key and only say the vault has been closed by the owner with his guardian's approval.

Dumbledore tried to claim he is the guardian of the owner and that he had not authorized anything. The goblin just looked at him and replied "If you had been the guardian then you would know it had been closed now wouldn't you?"

Further nosing into things only gets him a repeat of information that it was closed by the previous lessee's guardian and would be available for rental should he continue to express an interest in the vault.

Finally, Dumbledore left to Privet only to find that the house is empty and has been seized by Inland Revenue. Vernon Dursley is in jail and Petunia and Dudley in a local hostel. His only clue to Harry from Petunia is that 'a bushy haired girl and her parents took him away'. Now he knew the Grangers and Harry are together. He tries a point me charm only for it to point nearly straight down.

The old meddler frowns at the failure of his spell but does not think that it had pointed to Harry as Dumbledore believes Harry is still somewhere in Britain and does not know Harry is in Australia. He merely assumed that Harry would still be where he had left the boy.

Dumbledore returns to Hogwarts and pens a letter to Harry and makes it into a portkey which he gives to Fawkes to take to Harry. "Please be careful with this, Fawkes. Harry could be in great danger as he was not with his relatives."

Fawkes makes a noise of protest but Dumbledore insists it is for the best. Fawkes vanishes in a swirl of flames but the letter remains behind burning and falls as ashes to the floor. Albus feels a strain on his bond to Fawkes. He does not understand why it is telling him he is at the point of not being worthy of a phoenix due to his actions. One more morally questionable act and the bond will break. The old man is shocked as he does not think his actions are like that at all, they are for the Greater Good of the wizarding world after all.

Fawkes returns and begins to berate Dumbledore. His reply is merely squawking to most but it is a long tirade about meddlesome old men who are manipulative bastards and quickly approaching dark lord status. Albus merely sits in silent incomprehension as he does not speak phoenix.

Fawkes' monologue is interrupted by Minerva who has come to remind him that they need to fill 2 teaching positions plus her annual attempt to get Binns replaced as history instructor. Albus sighs and tries to push the duty back onto Minerva but she had already turned and left knowing the old man would take away her time off to do his job if he could.

* * *

When Minerva returned to her own office she looked at the letter waiting for her from Miss Granger's parents. She feared that it would be bad news as each year several students, mainly muggleborns, dropped out after completing OWLS. Steeling herself, she opened the letter and found to her dismay a notice that both Hermione and Harry Potter were leaving Hogwarts after having completed their OWLS. She was confused as to why Mr. Potter was included in the notice.

Her confusion ended upon reading the other enclosed letter with a muggle court order valid in both world assigning custody and guardianship of Harry James Potter to the Grangers as he 'had had no legal guardian since 1981'. She paled further at the hand written note from Miss Granger that if she informed the Headmaster of their withdrawal prior to Sept 1 she would be indicted as an accessory to child abandonment and child abuse of one Harry James Potter when the Headmaster was brought before the Queen's Courts.

There would be no need for transcripts as their further education would be monitored self study under private tutors and their OWL scores were not required. The fact the OWLs were of British origin worked against the teens as no country outside of Europe accepted them as they did not meet international standards of education.

Another letter from the goblins of Gringotts stated she would also be required to turn over any information related to Mr. Potter along with any mail or legacy in her possession. By doing so voluntarily, she would be allowed to withdraw her own funds from the bank prior to her being banned for life from Gringotts as a person indirectly involved in theft from a minor and placing and returning them into an abusive environment.

The teacher sat and read the entire court document before pouring herself a glass of whiskey which she quickly downed. A second followed by several more slowly until the enormity her failure in the situation caused her to sob in anguish. Poppy Pomphrey found her hours later stone drunk and it took three applications of a sobering charm and an enervate before the teacher stirred. McGonagall began sobbing once more and reached for the bottle that Poppy took away.

"I failed him, Poppy. I listened to Albus too many times and I failed the boy,"

Poppy looked confused until Minerva placed the Gringotts papers in front of her. Poppy paled and took a long swig from the bottle before handing it back. The healer knew she was only a school nurse but she never passed on her findings beyond the Headmaster at his order. She knew of at least four Potter incidents that should have been sent to St. Mungo's but the old man had not allowed it.

The whole Basilisk situation was another incident that should have been handled by outsiders not by leaving students petrified for months when they could have bought the mandrake needed for mere galleons immediately. It was not until a pureblood vanished that Dumbledore actually did something. She was ashamed by her inaction but Dumbledore had her future locked up in a contract she signed when she was in a low point in her life.

Poppy could not inform anyone magical outside of Hogwarts of anything without permission of Dumbledore or lose her magic as a consequence. The issue with passing Hermione's injury information and Harry's health records was circumvented by sending them to Dr. Granger. He barely passed muster as he was a fellow health provider and not magical. "Damn Dumbledore and his unbreakable contracts," she muttered.

Minerva looked hard at Poppy who took another swig of the fire whiskey before heading up to the hospital wing. The healer wrote a long letter of apology and signed it in blood she never meant any harm but had caused it anyhow. She mailed off the letter to Gringotts along with decades of her personal medical notes and a copy of the contract with Dumbledore. She sighed softly as her magic faded along with her life as only magic was keeping her alive at this point.

To her amazement she found forgiveness in the next life from the students, friends and families she had helped in this one, even from Lily and James. They knew she did the best she could for all her patients, even when constrained by Dumbledore's manipulations.

* * *

Albus was shocked to learn of Poppy's death and he wondered briefly that it might have something to do with the string of bad luck he had been having when Fawkes decided that enough was enough. The phoenix voluntarily burned to cinders and the ashes flew up into a new phoenix which was free of Dumbledore's bond before the old man could react. The mystical bird flew off leaving a pile of steaming fecal matter on the old man's head.

If that man was so far gone that he could not see his own hand in the bad things happening to him then there was no hope for the future with him.

* * *

Down in Australia, Harry was having a wonderful time. With the removal of the thing in his forehead, his mental acuity and magic were better than ever. His emotions were out of sorts for a few days but they settled down quickly. His more positive feelings were almost overwhelming and his moodiness was nearly gone. He barely recognized his emotions regarding Hermione flared as lust over seeing her pleasing shape.

A long talk with Mr. Granger about what love was led him to see that his base feelings for Hermione were just that; love with the lust being a recent issue. The vile thing in his head had muted all of his positive emotions and increased his negative ones.

Mr. Granger for his part suggested that Harry take things slow and in spite of knowing Hermione for years, he should ask her out on a formal date. He knew the lad had a long way to go before he was better but this was a good start.

Harry took the advice and a good date to a romantic movie was followed by several long walks holding hands and talking about possibilities. As they were the best of friends the romantic aspect came slowly until Harry tried for a kiss. Hermione kissed back hard with a mutter of 'Finally!' and proceeded to snog Harry into mindlessness. Once he recovered Hermione told him she was waiting for Harry to make a move since she knew Harry was a bit stunted emotionally.

If he was able to make a move on her then he was confident enough to move ahead so she stopped holding back her own wants to begin the relationship.

The announcement came as no surprise to the parents who gave a blessing as long as the doors to their rooms remained open if the other was visiting. Mrs. Granger worried and half expected the couple to make up for lost time and had Hermione get both standard and magical birth control, just in case. She might be early 40's and she had no need to be a grandma yet. Hermione just blushed heavily and fired back that 'this was almost a license to shag you know mum'.

Helen managed a stutter and a heavy flush to the laughter of both her husband and daughter.

* * *

School days approached and Hogwarts session started. Dumbledore tried to play things cool but having to replace Snape, Madame Pompfrey and Binns along with so many missing upper years students, people expected more from him. Three new teachers and the school nurse had changed the staff enough that he no longer had the full confidence of previous years to do as he pleased. With the loss of Fawkes, his personal confidence was at an all time low.

The lack of Harry and Hermione at the Gryffindor table also started rumors that no one cared to try to stop. Neville and Luna stuck together and the Ravens found him a more than adequate protector for the blonde waif. Flitwick was forced to pull Cho from her position as head girl after Cho was found in possession of several articles of Luna's wardrobe and a Lovegood family heirloom. Neville insisted on contacting the DMLE over the incident.

Dumbledore tried to prevent things from getting outside the school until a Howler from the Dowager Longbottom arrived just before Amelia Bones and her Aurors. Luna provided a dozen reports signed by Flitwick of stolen items. All investigations had been halted by Dumbledore. A quick show of hands in the Great Hall showed dozens of students had filed complaints over stolen items and mistreatment the Headmaster had never passed along to authorities.

In almost every case past Luna's, the student was a muggleborn or half blood and the accused thief was a pureblood or influenctial family. Luna was the only pureblood to have things stolen. His means of 'keeping it in house' now backfired as the total of all the cases were investigated at once. The final nail was a warrant by the goblins for an audit of the school's books as Dumbledore had been keeping then at bay for years.

Without Harry's funds to bolster the coffers, he could not show enough funds to run day to day affairs and he was quickly removed from his position for theft, malfeasence and nonfeasence. His removal from the Wizengamot came quickly afterwards. His standard reply of it was 'for the Greater Good' was for the first time met with the reply, 'the Greater Good of Whom?' There was no accepting of his standard reply because the only one benefitting here was 'Dumbledore and a lot of dark families'.

The old man had no reply ready to any of his questionable actions as he had never been called on it before to that and was led out in cuffs. The goblins found every knut he had stolen or hidden with creative accounting and false expenses and left the once proud man a pauper. It was only his brother stepping in that allowed Albus to live in the family home that kept him off the streets. Abe blessed the day he had bought the family holdings from his older brother when the man had become Headmaster. It protected his bar and house from the goblins.

Rita Skeeter pushed up the publishing of her book, ' _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_ ' and made a fortune as people loved bashing fallen heroes as much as they did villains. Dumbledore was quickly relegated to Dark Lord status by society.

The only thing that was still bothering the British is what happened with Harry Potter. The goblins said little past a press release saying that Mr. Potter remained a customer of Gringotts and his accounts were strong. The people that knew him best assumed Harry had left the country after the loss of his godfather and last remaining family. Neville and Luna figured he was with Hermione.

Amelia Bones prevented a search for the boy as she knew they would merely make another Dumbledore or Dark Lord out of Harry. They had enough to do with society in ruins over the two dark lords' reigns. British society would slowly creep into the future and grow after nearly a half century of stagnation under Albus' leadership. With no Death Eaters and few purebloods left, the new blood and ideas they brought flourished at last.

Molly Weasley never gave up her over-vocal support of Albus but a Howler ward on Hogwarts ended her reign of shouting at her children in school. The new headmaster was pleased over that addition. Minerva had retired along with Flitwick. While they were not forced out, they knew they were tainted by too many years with Dumbledore to remain for long. Flitwick would return to the dueling circuit and restored a good name for himself once more before returning to teaching a decade later in France.

Ron failed out his final year of Hagwarts achieving the lowest GPA in history and not a single NEWT to his name. He married Eloise Midgen after a drunken romp got her pregnant. Without Harry's reflected glory, he had nothing else going for him.

Down in Australia, Harry and Hermione followed the news out of Britain but did nothing about it. They continued their schooling and in time finished it. They grew in power and in love and in time, married. Hermione eventually became the Minister for Magic in Australia and a half dozen children along the way. Harry was content to remain a father to his children in anonymity.

All was well.

* * *

This story is dedicated to the memory of broomstick flyer. She was a wonderful writer and this reminded me of one of hers when I first conceived it. She wrote wonderful stories on Harry escaping Britain and Dumbledore. She is missed.

Update (Late evening 11/10/17): I received word of this story being added to the C2 'Broomstick's Memorial' by The Ghostly Minion. I am honored by this. A request was made that I change the names of Hermione's parents from Wendell and Monica (the only reference of any first names for them in canon) to the Richard and Helen that broomstick flyer used. I have changed the names at this request.


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